{"id":837893,"date":"2026-10-17T14:10:00","date_gmt":"2026-10-17T18:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/?p=837893"},"modified":"2026-10-17T09:55:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-17T13:55:23","slug":"tplf-warns-against-any-movement-at-mekelle-airport-getachew-reda-says-group-is-threatening-civilian-planes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mereja.com\/index\/837893","title":{"rendered":"Statement attributed to TPLF warns against any movement at Mekelle airport, Getachew Reda says group is threatening civilian planes"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The terminal of Alula Aba Nega Airport in Mekelle, Tigray, in May 2008. (Photo: Simon Temple via Wikimedia Commons, public domain) [file photo]<\/em><\/p>\n

A statement attributed to the TPLF-led Tigray administration warned that no movement of any kind should take place at Mekelle's Alula Aba Nega airport, accusing the federal government of using it for troops and supplies.<\/p>\n

The Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) had not confirmed or disowned the statement by Saturday morning ET. The warning was one of three in a statement issued on Friday, Tikimt 6, 2019 in the Ethiopian calendar, by the TPLF administration led by its chairman, Debretsion Gebremichael, BBC Amharic reported. The statement said the airport "has left civilian transport service" and that it "has been confirmed" the federal government is using it "to transport military personnel and logistics" in order to make up for roads closed to it by the forces of the "Alliance for Survival." "We therefore strictly warn that no movement of any kind take place at the airport," the statement said.<\/p>\n

Tigrayan forces took control of the airports in Mekelle, Shire and Aksum when fighting began three weeks ago, but the three airports came back under government control after federal forces and their ally, the armed group known as the Tigray Peace Force, captured the main towns, BBC Amharic said. Ethiopian Airlines resumed its regular flights to Mekelle last Sunday, after the airport came under federal control.<\/p>\n

In its second warning, the statement told structures at every level in the region not to cooperate with the trustee administration that the federal government set up to run Tigray for the next six months. The statement called that administration a "tool of invasion" meant "to complete the genocide policy started against the people of Tigray, with the support of bandas," a word Tigrayan officials use for collaborators. "All our people should know that any decision given in the name of 'trustee administration' at any level has no legality or enforceability," it said, adding that any institution working with the administration "will be seen as part of Prosperity and will bear responsibility."<\/p>\n

Addis Standard reported that the statement described the administration appointed by Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed's government as a "Prosperity structure" imposed on the region.<\/p>\n

The third warning restricted travel toward areas held by Tigrayan forces. In a translation of that section posted on X, Martin Plaut, who writes on the Horn of Africa, quoted the statement as saying that "information obtained directly from arrested traitors has confirmed that various traitors and bandits are using small vehicles (Bajaj, motorcycles, bicycles, and others)" to carry communications equipment into rural areas to spy. "Therefore, no one is permitted to use any vehicle to travel to areas where our forces are operating without authorization from the legitimate Tigray government administration and the Tigray forces," the statement said.<\/p>\n

Getachew Reda, the Prime Minister's adviser on East African affairs, condemned the statement on X. "The defunct TPLF leadership has officially admitted to having decided to resort to classic terrorist tactics in order to remind the people of Tigray that there was once such a thing as TPLF," he wrote. "They are telling us that they will shoot down civilian planes en route to Mekelle, among other heinous crimes it craves to commit. Yet another good reason why the people of Tigray are better off without these lunatics." An account posting as The Horn African Guy wrote that the statement warned Ethiopian Airlines could be considered a legitimate target if it kept supporting military activities, a line that does not appear in the BBC Amharic and Addis Standard accounts. Mereja could not independently verify it.<\/p>\n

Jawar Mohammed, the Oromo Federalist Congress politician, wrote in Amharic that he did not think the TPLF would carry out the threat, but that an attack on civilian planes or the airport would be "an additional favor" to Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed. Jawar said such an attack would bring automatic international condemnation, would get the group labeled terrorist, and, if missiles were fired from Eritrean territory, would give Addis Ababa more diplomatic license to move against Asmara. He added that the TPLF's recent statements and actions "look like they were designed by Prosperity," because they serve the ruling party's interests.<\/p>\n

Getachew Temare, a lawyer and human rights defender, wrote on X that less than a month ago TPLF forces controlled the airport, and that "having lost the capital and the airport, its leadership is warning against any movement there, alleging military use, just as civilian flights and ordinary life are returning. It is a visible sign of desperation."<\/p>\n

Some Tigrayan voices backed the TPLF's account. Misgina Adhanom, posting as @misgunhadera, wrote that Ethiopia "is reportedly using" the airport "to transport military commanders from Addis Ababa to Tigray," and argued that if Tigrayan forces shot down any aircraft used in those operations, responsibility for the consequences should also be examined. Mereja could not independently verify the claim that the airport is being used for military flights.<\/p>\n

On the battlefield, Rich Tedd, who runs the open-source account AfriMEOSINT, wrote on Friday that the Tigray Peace Force was claiming new captures of ammunition and drones from Tigrayan forces, including Kenyan Ministry of Defence labelled ammunition, likely 14.5mm armor-piercing rounds, whose contract markings match ammunition the Sudanese Armed Forces seized from the Rapid Support Forces in Khartoum in April 2025, "suggesting it may have reached via Sudan." Mereja could not independently verify the claim.<\/p>\n

Separately, the Tigray Peace and Change Council, a body formed in May 2026 by politicians who split from the TPLF and by eight Tigrayan parties, including Getachew Reda's Simret party, with committees led by Lt. Gen. Tsadkan Gebretensae, announced on Friday that it would no longer continue "in the structure in which it was formed." Its media coordinator, Kebede Assefa, told BBC Amharic the council made that decision because the federal government had decided to take over the remaining transition work in the region itself, and that members would support that work "jointly and individually."<\/p>\n

The Office of the Prime Minister said on X on Saturday that Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed had given an interview in Tigrigna to the Ethiopian Broadcasting Corporation on the current situation in the country, which it said would be aired soon.<\/p>\n

Sources<\/h4>\n